Halloween Door Hanger from a Wicker Paper Plate Holder

On a recent trip to Goodwill, I noticed one wicker paper plate holder after another. You know the kind I’m talking about? The paper plate holders that were once found in nearly every kitchen back in the day. Well, apparently they’re all getting donated to the thrift store! I knew I needed to come up with an upcycling idea for them, and a Halloween door hanger seemed like a great place to start.

Designed to support a standard paper plate, they were a 1970s-1980s staple. Ironically, though, I don’t think we had them in our house!

And yes, this is not the first wicker jack-o-lantern project that I’ve made! Remember this Halloween candy bowl, as well?

Either way, it was obvious to me that people were cleaning out their cupboards and adding these old wicker paper plate holders to their donation piles. They were begging to be repurposed and a Halloween door hanger was my plan.

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DIY Jack-o-Lantern for a Halloween Door Hanger

First things first, I needed to transform the wicker paper plate holder into a DIY jack-o-lantern.

And to do so, I used Krylon’s pumpkin orange spray paint to make it bright orange.

Now the paper plate holder was the perfect pumpkin orange color for a Halloween jack-o-lantern!

Once the paint dried, I grabbed some scraps of felt from my stash. I used a piece of green felt for the stem and black felt for the jack-o-lantern face.

I didn’t bother using any templates and just cut out them out, free hand.

Next, I grabbed some fabric glue to attach my felt pieces to the paper plate holder. A hot glue gun would also work just fine for this!

And just like that, I had an adorable DIY jack-o-lantern to use as a Halloween door hanger.

The paper plate holder still needed a few more embellishments, so I purchased some artificial greenery. I wanted him to have that “just picked from the pumpkin patch” look, and these would work perfectly.

And yes, I realize the leaf shape is more oak-y than squash-y, but I loved the autumn colors and the hints of shimmery gold. I already had some curly-q dried grasses on hand that I had used in my summer jars, so I spray painted them green and added them to the mix.

Lastly, after picking out the leaves and stems to use, I glued them to the back of my Halloween door hanger!

Halloween Door Hanger from a Wicker Paper Plate Holder

When all was said and done, I had a Halloween door hanger that was charming and easy to hang. 

Thanks to the open weave of the wicker paper plate holder, I was able to slide a piece of thread through the back (behind the stem) and tie off a little loop.

Maybe not quite as cute as the vintage cardboard decorations my mom would use around the house all those years ago, but still very cute. Especially for the price AND for the simplicity of the Halloween craft project!

Now I really want to make more projects with these wicker holders to use during different times of year. Hmm…what would you suggest?

If you enjoyed this upcycling idea for Halloween decor, then you’ll love this Halloween candy bowl stand that looks like a ghost, too!

Or if light-up Halloween decorations are your thing, check out this Halloween moon light with a flying witch!

Craft on!

S

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